Billet heating apparatus



Aug. 28, 1951 K. SKIVESEN 2,566,096

BILLET HEATING APPARATUS Filed Sept 28. 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.|

INVENTOR. KRISTIAN SKIVESEN ATTORNEY.

Aug. 28, 1951 K. SKIVESEN I 2,566,096

BILLET HEATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28. 1948 s ShetsSheet 2 INVENTOR.KRISTIAN SKIVESEN ATTORNEY.

Aug. 28, 1951 K, sK VESEN 2,566,096

BILLET HEATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28. 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. KRISTIAN SKIVESEN ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 28, 1951 BILLET nmrmo APPARATUS Kristian Skivesen,Flour-town, Pa., assignor to Selas Corporation of America, Philadelphia,Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 2a, 1948,Serial No. 51,565

. i 7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to machines for heating billets forforging, and more particularly to mechanism for ejectingthe billets fromthe machine after they have been heated.

Heat treating machines of the type shown herein form the subject matterof the application of Frederic O. Hess, Serial Number 764,443, filedJuly 29, 1947 now Patent ,Serial No. 2,547,755. In

a such machines the billets to be heated are supplied to a verticallydisposed furnace chamber. The chamber is provided with guides betweenwhich the billets are received in a vertical row or stack where they areheated to the desired temperature. Periodically billets that have beenheated are removed from the stack and discharged to a point of use. Thedischarging mechanism disclosed in the above-mentioned patentapplication performs in a satisfactory marine, but the parts thereof areso located that separate mechanisms are needed to eject and lower thebillets, and a comparatively large number of openings are required inthe furnace wall to accommodate the lowering and ejecting mechanisms.

With the ejecting mechanism of the present invention only two openingsare required in the heating chamber and these are located below theheating zone. The mechanism itself is compact and of a unitaryconstruction.

It is an object of the invention to provide an drawings and descriptivematterin which I have illustrated and described a preferredembodiment ofthe invention.

In the drawings: I Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a heattreating machine embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a view.partly in section. from the left of Figure 1;

Figurefl is a view taken on line 1-3 of Figure 1; 'and a Figure 4 isaviewtaken on line 4-4 of Figure Referring to Figure 1, there is shown aheat treating machine having astructural steel support or framework lupon the uper part of which is mounted a furnace consisting of astationary panel 2 and a movable panel 3. These furnace panels are madein accordancewith the usual furnace practice and include in themrefractory burner blocks 4 that are placed relative to each other toform the proper or desired heat pattern for the billets that are beingheated. Inbetween theburner blocks and at the top and bottom. portionsof the furnace are placed refractory bricks efllcient means for removinga billet from a vertical stack of billets in a furnace and to lower thestack to a position in which another one can be removed.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a compact, unitaryejecting mechanism to be used in combination with a billet heatingfurnace to remove the heated billets therefrom. The ejecting mechanismworks in synchronism with means for supplying'billets to the furnace sothat there is always a supply of billets in the furnace to take theplace of those that have been removed.

It is also an object of the invention to provide means forming'part ofthe ejector mechanism which can be used to support and gradually lower astack of billets into a furnace chamber as the furnace is being charged.

The various features of novelty which'characterize my invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention,however, its advantages and specific objects attained with its use,reference should be had to the accompanying 5 to complete the furnace.The burner blocks and the refractory bricks are backed up by sheet metalwork 6 that is suitably braced by structural members I. The frame inwhich panel 3 is built is mounted on wheels 8 that roll on tracks 9fastened to a portion of the support. Thus the panel 3 can be movedtoward and away from panel 2 in order to give acces to the interior ofthe furnace. The adjoining edges of each 01' the panels and the bottomoi panel 3 are each provided with water cooling to protect the metalbacking from the heat. These panels, during operation of the furnace,are fastened together by any suitable means, such as bolts.

The burner blocks 4 are each provided with a concave cup into whichprojects a distributor ll through which a combustible mixture of gas andair is passed. This mixture is burned in the cups of the blocks. Thedistributors are supplied with the combustible mixture through manifoldsl 2, that are arranged to supply various groups of burners in accordancewith the desired heat pattern or gradient that is who used for heatingthe billets in any particular part of the furnace. When the panels arein their closed position, as shown in the drawing. there is formedbetween them a furnace chamber l3. In the operation of the furnace thefuel supply will be regulated by suitable valves to maintain a constantfurnace 3 temperature considerably higher than the temperature to whichthe billets are to be heated;

Located in chamber l3 are a pair of water cooled guides l4 and I5 whichform a vertical path centered between the sides of the furnace chamberthrough which a stack or row of billets is passed during the heatingprocess. Each of the water cooled guides comprises a pipe which extendsfrom the top of the furnace chamber through the same and out at thebottom. These pipes are provided with flanges I6 that serve as wearplates on the sides that are engaged by the billets being heated. Thebillets moving through the furnace chamber from top to bottom engagethese plates rather than directly engage the tubes forming the guides.There are also provided refractory shields I'I around the tubes toprotect them somewhat from the heating during the time that the furnaceis in operation. As shown best in Figure 2, the water cooled guidesextend at an angle to the vertical so that each portion of the billetswill receive radiant heat from the burner cups. It is noted that thewater cooled tube l4 in the stationary panel 2 extends to the bottom ofthe furnace whereas the water cooled tube It in the movable panel 3extends to a distance above the floor "3 of the furnace equal tosubstantially the diameter of one of the billets that is being heated.Because of this arrangement the billets can be moved one by one from thebottom of the stack to the left through an opening l9 which is providedin the floor. There are also provided water cooled tubes 2| in the floorof the exit opening which tubes have wear plates 22 welded to theirupper surfaces as is shown in the drawing. When the billets move downthrough the furnace exit they are received on a chute 23 from which theycan be removed to a forging mechanism or any other apparatus that is towork upon the heated billets.

The billets to be heated are supplied to the path formed between thetubes I4 and I5 from a guideway or chute 24 extending across the top ofthe stationary panel 2. They are supplied to this guideway by means of aconveyor 25. The conveyor is in the form of a pair of endless chains,one on each side of the furnace, passing over upper sprockets 28 andlower sprockets 21. The lower sprockets 21 are fastened to a shaft whichis joumalled in suitable bearings that can be adjusted vertically by aturnbuckle or other arrangement in order to maintain the proper tensionon the conveyor chains. The upper sprockets 2B are also mounted on ashaft that is Journalled in suitable hearings to the top of the frame.The sprocket shaft is driven through gearing 23 from a shaft 23 in amanner that will be described below. Each of the links of the conveyorchain has extended outwardly from it a pin or support 3| upon which thebillets are placed by the operator to be moved to the top of the machineand fed into the furnace chamber.

Heated work is removed from the furnace by an ejector mechanism whichprojects up through the floor I8 of the furnace chamber. This ejectormechanism includes a pair of cylindrical members 32 projecting throughthe floor adiacent to the sides of the chamber, as best shown in Figure2 of the drawings. The cylinders each have a projection 33 extendingupwardly from their upper face a distance substantially equal to thediameter of one of the billets that is being heated. Extending througheach of the cylinders is a rod 34. The operation is such that the twocylinders rotate around their axes so that the projections extendingfrom the upper surface thereof will engage a billet and force it to theleft in Figure 1 from beneath the stack and out of the outlet openingI9. When this occurs the stack of billets is then resting on top of theprojections. Thereafter, the rods 34 are raised sufficiently to lift thestack of billets off the projections so that the cylinders may bereturned to their initial positions. The rods are then lowered to lowerthe stack of billets so that the lowermost billet will be in front ofthe projections 33 in order for it to be removed upon the next cycle ofoperation. As mentioned above, and as.

shown in the drawing, there are provided two of the cylinders and two ofthe rods, and since they are identical, like parts of each are given thesame reference numerals.

Each of the cylinders is journalled for rotation in and held from axialmovement by bearlngs 35 that are suitably mounted in the frame I of themachine. The lower end of each cylinder has a gear 36 upon it which isengaged by a rack 33. The racks are attached to opposite sides of aslide 39 that is reciprocated between a pair of tracks 4|. Therefore asthe slide is moved back and forth along the tracks 4|, the cylinderswill simultaneously be oscillated. The arrangement is such that theprojection of the left hand cylinder in Figure 3 will move clockwisewhile the projection of the right hand cylinder in Figure 3 will movecounterclockwise during the electing operation. It is noted that the twocylinders are water cooled in order to keep the top end thereof and theprojections at a reasonable temperature. For this purpose there isprovided a water inlet 42 and a water outlet 43. Water is forced upthrough each cylinder and to the top thereof where it can be exhaustedthrough a narrow section of the cylinder that is formed by partitions 44as is shown in Figure 4 of the drawing. Because of this arrangement thecylinders will always be full of cooling water since the overflow takesplace at the top through the channel formed by the partition 44.Suitable flexible hoses are connected to the cylinders at 42 and 43 sothat the cooling water may be supplied to and removed from the devicewhile it is oscillating.

Rods 34 are raised and lowered by means of pinions 31 that are receivedby threads 45 on the lower ends of the rods. Each pinion has anelongated collar which is provided with a groove 43. The grooves in thecollars of the two pinions receive yokes 41 on opposite sides of alifting block 43. This block is reciprocated vertically to move the rodsup and down the proper amount by means of rollers 49 attached toextensions on the lower end of the block that are received in camgrooves 5| formed in a pair of cam plates 52 joined by a cross piece 53.The assembly formed by the two cam plates and plate 53 is reciprocatedin a horizontal direction in a pair of tracks or guideways 54. It willbe seen that as the cam plates 52 are moved to the left or to the rightin Figure l of the drawing that the lifting block 48 will be raised orlowered to carry with it the pinions and the rods 34.

The rack slide 39 and the cam pieces 52 are moved in a horizontaldirection by means of rods 45 and 56 respectively. These rods arepivotally attached at one end to the sliding members above-mentioned andat their other ends to cranks 51 and 53, respectively, on the ends of avertically disposed crank shaft 59.

51 and 58 extend from shaft 58 at such an angle to each other that thecylinders 32 and rods 34 move in the proper sequence to perform theiroperations. As shaft 53 is rotated from the slide the bottom billet fromthe stackthrough opening it in the furnace floor. The lower corners ofwater cooled pipes I! retain the upper billets in the stack during theejecting operation. When in their dotted line position the projectionsare supporting the stack of billets above them. It is noted that theprojections are so shaped that they present a substantially flat side tothe billet being ejected during the first part of the operation. This isdone so that the plastic billet will not be deformed while it is beingmoved out of the furnace.

Just after the projections 33 reach their dotted line positions, camplates 52 will begin to move to the left to raise rods 34. These rodswill be raised to lift the stack of billets off the projections and thelatter will be returned to their full line positions as racks 33 move tothe right. After the projections are out from under the stack cam plates52 move to the right to lower rods 34 and the stack of billets carriedthereby to the bottom of the furnace chamber. The billets are nowresting on the tops of cylinders 32 ready for another ejecting operationto take place.

Rotation is imparted to the crank shaft 59 and the shaft 29, whichdrives the conveyor by means of motor 6|. This motor is suitablyattached to the frame of the machine and drives a belt 62 which in turndrives a variable speed mechanism 63. The output shaft of the variablespeed mechanism has a pinion on it which directly engages with a gear 64on theshaft 29. There is provideda second pinion 65 on a clutch shaft 66which is rotated by gear 64. The arrangement is such that a clutchmember 66a is driven continuously whenever the motor is rotated, but aclutch member 66b, that is keyed to-the shaft 68, is only rotated whenthe clutch is closed. This shaft drives through gearing t1 and 68 thevertically disposed crank shaft 59.

It will be seen from the above that the conveyor mechanism is driven atall times when the motor is rotated. but the ejecting mechanism is onlydriven when the clutch is closed. The reason for this is that during thetime that the furnace is being loaded, as when it is starting up,

there is no reason for having the ejecting mechanism operating. a

In loading the furnace initially, if some means were not provided toreceive the billets one by one as they are moved into the upper end ofthe furnace by the conveyor mechanism, each billet would fall the fulllength of the furnace'chamber. This would soon damage the machine. Ameans is therefore provided to receive these billets and gradually lowerthem into the furnace during the time that they are being heated whenthe machine is started. To this end the rods 34 can be raised to the topof the furnaceat will by a mechanism that is independent of the mechanism for reciprocating them. This is an additional reason for thepinions 31 and the threads 45 to be placed on the lower ends of therods. These pinions can be rotated relative to the rods to thereby raiseor lower the rods at any time that such isnecessary. The rotation of thepinions is accomplished by means of a wide gear 83 that engages the lefthand pinion 31 in Figure 2 of the drawing and a wide gear II thatengages the right hand pinion 31. These two wide gears are rotatedsimultaneously by means of a. gear I! that is attached to a short shaftI3 which is journalled in. the frame of the machine. Shaft I3 has on itsupper end a bevel gear I4 meshing with a similar gear on a shaft 15extending to the side of the machine. The latter shaft is provided witha hand wheel I6 by means of which it may berotated. As the hand wheel isrotated gears 31 will also be rotated to raise or lower the rods 34.Shaft I3, the gear attached to it and the wide gears 69 and II, aremounted in the framework of the machine for rotation but not forvertical movement, and the gears 63 and II are wide enough to engagepinions 31 during their entire vertical movement. Therefore rods 34 canbe raised and lowered at any time whether their reciprocating mechanismis operating or not. In view of the fact that the rods 34 may beextended entirely through the heating furnace, these rods are also watercooled. To this end each of the rods is provided with a centrallylocated tube 11, slightly shorter than the rod. The tubes are joined tothe rods by blocks I8 that are attached to their lower-ends. Inlets forthe cooling water are formed in the blocks and lead directly to the rods34 and outside of the partition tubes 11. Outlets lead from the interiorof the partition tube through the blocks. The inlets and outlets areconnected by suitable flexible hoses to a source of water supply and adrain respectively.

The overall operation of the machine starting fromv the time it is firstput in use will now be described. Hand wheel I6 is rotated in adirection to raise rods 34 until their upper ends are adjacent to thetop of the water cooled guides I4 and I5. Clutch 56a, 66b is open andthe motor is started. The operator will place billets to be heated onthe pins 3| of the conveyor and they will be moved by this conveyor tothe top of the furnace where they roll down guideway or chute 24 to bereceived between the water cooled guides in the furnace chamber. .Asmore of the billets are added to the top of this pile the hand wheelwill be rotated to lower gradually the upper end of the rods and tolower the billets into the furnace. As this takes place the billets willbe heated so that by 'the time the bottom billet reaches the bottom ofthe furnace chamber it will be at its desired temperature. At this timethe clutch will be closed so that the eiecting mechanism will start tooperate. Thereafter the ejecting mechanism will operate at a speed relative tothe speed of the conveyor which has been predetermined by thegearing ratio in the respective drives of these two parts. Thearrangement is such that one billet will be removed from the furnace asa new billet is added to the top so that the furnace will always befull. Since it may be necessary to heat some billets to a highertemperature than others the variable speed drive mechanism can beadjusted to supply the proper number of billets within a unit time tothe furnace, and the elector mechanism can take these billets away.Therefore, each billet will be in the furnace for a predetermined lengthof time depending upon the adjustment of the variable speed mechanism.If the furnace is operating at a constant temperature it will be easy toadjust the speed of the supply of the billets through the furnace toinsure that they are heated to the.

proper temperature.

. opening in the furnace floor.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided apositively operating ejecting mechanism to remove billets from a furnaceas they are being heated. This ejecting mechanism, acting against thesides of the billets, is so designed that they will be moved evenly andsmoothly from the bottom of the pile and will not be bent as they moveout through the exit The operation of the ejecting mechanism issynchronized with the supply of billets so that the furnace will performin a continuous manner.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, I haveillustrated and described the bestform of embodiment of my invention nowknown to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in the form of the invention, as set forth in theappended claims, and that in some cases certain features of my inventionmay be used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for heating billets, the combination of means forming afurnace chamber having side walls and a floor, guide means in saidchamber to guide billets to be heated in a vertical row with one billeton top of the next, said chamber being formed with an opening in thefloor through which heated billets are discharged, rods extendingthrough the floor of said chamber to support said stack of billets, asleeve surrounding each rod and having a projection ex tending upwardlytherefrom, means to rotate said sleeves in one direction whereby'saidprojections will move a billet from the stack through said opening, thetop of said projections then supporting the billets in said stack, meansto raise said rods to lift said stack from said projections so saidmeans to rotate said sleeves can return them totheir original positions,said means to raise then lowering said rods to a position where thelowest billet in said stack is in a position to be engaged by saidprojections.

2. In a machine for heating billets, the combination of means to supportbillets in a stack with one above the other, means to add billets to thetop of said stack, means to heat billets in the stack, and means toremove billets one at a time from the bottom of the stack, said lastmeans comprising a pair of rods located to support said stack of billetson their upper ends, a sleeve surrounding each rod, said sleeves eachhaving a projection extending upwardly therefrom substantially thethickness of a billet, said projections normally being positioned at oneside of the stack of billets, means to oscillate said sleeves through anarc suilicient to move said projections into engagement with the lowestbillet and force it from the stack, the stack then resting on saidprojections, and means to raise and lower said rods, the rods whenraised lifting said stack from said projections so that the projectionsmay return to their starting point.

3. Ejecting mechanism for removing heated billets from a stack ofbillets in a furnace including a rod, a sleeve surrounding said rod,said sleeve having a projection ext-ending upwardly from its top surfaceadjacent to said rod, means to raise and lower said rod from a positionwhere its upper end is substantially even with the bottom of saidprojection to a position where its upper end is slightly higher thansaid projection. and means to oscillate said sleeve to move saidprojection around a portion of the circumference of said rod.

4. In a device for heating billets, the combination of means forming afurnace chamber having side walls and a floor with an exit formed in oneside thereof, guide means in the chamber for supporting a plurality ofwork pieces in a stack, means extending through the floor of saidchamber to support the stack of work pieces and remove them one by onefrom the bottom of said stack comprising a rotatable sleeve having aflat top with a projection extending up from said top beside the bottomwork piece, the stack of work pieces resting on said top, a rod in saidsleeve, means to rotate said sleeve whereby said projection will engagethe bottom work piece and move it from the stack through said exit, andmeans to raise said rod to support the stack of work pieces as saidmeans to rotate returns said projection to its original position.

5. In a machine for heating billets, the combination of a furnace havinga chamber that is provided with a floor having an opening therein, meansin said chamber to guide billets in said chamber in a vertical row oneupon the other, means toheat said billets, and means to remove theheated billets from said chamber through the opening in said floorcomprising a first part projecting through said floor substantially theheight of a billet, and to one side of said stack, means to move saidpart against said stack to move the bottom'billet to said opening andback to its original position, said stack resting upon said part afterthe bottom billet-has been removed, supporting means projecting throughsaid floor directly below said stack, means to raise said support-ingmeans from a position substantially even with said floor to a positionslightly above the top of said part to thereby support said stack assaid part is moved to its position at one side of said stack, and tolower said supporting means and the stack carried thereby so thatanother billet may be removed therefrom, and means to correlate theoperation of the means for moving said part and the means for raisingand lowering said supporting means.

6. In a machine for heating billets, the combination of structureforming a furnace chamber having a floor that is provided with anopening, means in said furnace chamber to support a vertically extendingstack of horizontally disposed billets in said chamber, and means todischarge the billets one by one through the opening in said floorcomprising a rotatable part having an eccentrically positioned portionextending through said floor to one side of said stack, said portionprojecting upwardly the height of one billet, means to rotate said partto bring said portion from its position to one side of said stack to aposition beneath said stack, means to raise said supporting means tosupport said stack after a billet has been removed therefrom and tolower said stack to a position where another billet may be removedtherefrom, and means to raise said supporting means to the top of saidchamber to receive billets as the stack is being formed in said chamber.

7. In an ejecting mechanism to remove heated work pieces from a furnace,the combination of rotatable means having a fiat surface at the endthereof upon which a work piece rests, said means having a projectionextending upwardly therefrom eccentric to the axis about which itrotates and to one side of the work pieces, mechanism to oscillate saidmeans and the projection carried thereby, said projection acting againstthe side of a work piece as it moves in one direction and returning toits original position upon its move- 9 10 ment in a reverse directionwhereby another UNITED STATES PATENTS work piece may be placed upon saidmeans. Number Name Date KRISTEN SKIVESEN- 712,386 Keiser Oct. 28, 1902 a957,998 Parsons May 17, 1910 1,252,561 Fassinger Jan. 8, 1918 REFERENCESCITED 1,273,902 Muller July so, 1918 The following references are ofrecord in the 1,865,954 Powers July 5, 1932 file 01 this patent:2,269,838 Wroblewski Jan. 13, 1942

